It's Good to Be Back

So school's been back in for 2 1/2 weeks now. Only . . . yeah, I have no idea how many more to go. Good thing I'm not to that point yet, eh? :-) Some random thoughts on the new school year -

~ One of the few remaining things that make me feel young - when the kids ask how old I am and then react to the answer with "You're younger than my mom!!" usually in a very shocked tone of voice. To which I think, "kid, you were born while I was still in high school (or barely out of it), I hope your mom is older than I am!" Should I still be there by the time I'm old enough to have a third grader I may have to switch jobs just to prevent the crushing depression from setting in. :-)

~ I am finally working with kids a little bit. Not the full schedule I'll have since the massive amounts of testing is still not done . . . which really isn't surprising since it is a MASSIVE amount of testing. Gotta say, I do not remember having this many tests at the beginning of the year back in the day. Of course, according to the kids it's nothing short of a miracle that I remember going to school at all. So I suppose I should take what I can get. :-)

~ Best way to feel loved EVER? Walk into a classroom a third graders, some of whom were with you last year in second grade. Brace yourself for several hugs, multiple from two of the boys you suspected of having a bit of a crush last year. (yay for ego boosts! also - awwwwww.) Have appropriate responses ready for "I missed you!" and "Are you really in our class again this year?!" and various other expressions of joy and excitement. Enjoy repeats everyday. Well, the joyousness every time you come in to help with - gulp! - math anyway. It'll probably wear off after another week or so, but I'm thoroughly enjoying it while it lasts.

~ Speaking of math, I am definitely in trouble. I'm also in a fourth grade class, first thing in the morning, mostly checking in homework. Math homework. And the math homework mostly consists of math timing, wherein a kid has one minute to answer about a bazillion arithmetic questions. The good news - once they've passed them all they don't have the homework anymore. The bad news - I have to correct it. And I haven't done that much mental math since I was their age. But it would look kind of bad if I pulled out my calculator, you know? It's not too bad now, most of them are still doing +2 and x2 and such . . . but there's one kid who was on 4s Friday . . . and clearly, when everybody else gets up to those bigger numbers, things are not going to be pretty. Soooooooooooooooooo not going to be pretty.

~ So far so good with the kids I'm working with. Our little diva princess from last year is not in the class I'm in, which was a relief. There are two little problems-waiting-to-happen though. One's just a whiner . . . I'm guessing he gets pretty spoiled at home. The slightest whiff of something not going his way and he starts whimpering and here's hoping you can head him off before it becomes a full blown tantrum. Good times. Oh, did I mention he has an obedience problem? As in, if you tell him to do something he doesn't want to do he'll come back with a flat out "no?" Yeah, good times. We've had a couple run-ins already. Here's hoping he grows up a bit this year.

The other one's just a brat. The future-juvenile-delinquent, blatant-disrespect-for-authority kind. However, he's quick to apologize and shape up when he sees you're serious about sending him away from the math game and back to his desk. And then he stays quiet and good and all and I haven't had to go past a warning with him yet. (On the other hand, I've heard stories of the other kid having to be dragged by two adults down the hall to the principal's office . . . good times.) For the moment, I like him the better of the two.

~ Still a bit of mindless work to fill in the gaps where I'll be working with kids eventually. Right now we're cutting/hole punching/assembling math flashcards for the third graders. Absolutely no thought required . . . which is actually kind of nice, at least for a while. On the other hand, the cards are made of cardstock. And the palm of my right hand kind of hurts from all the hole punching. Not nearly as badly as it did as I punched the first hole on Friday after spending a couple of hours punching on Thursday. So . . . progress? I guess.

Best part? Getting a paycheck again. Yay!!!!


Okay, so this has nothing to do with anything, but I can't not share it. Have any of you seen those ". . . and I'm a Mormon" ads that are supposedly floating all around the interwebs? So far I've only seen them on facebook . . .which I find a little amusing considering I'm not exactly their target demographic, you know? I can't help but wonder - if I'm getting them, are the people they were meant for seeing them? That's the cue for my horrible, sinning, heathen friends - whom I love dearly, of course :-) - do you know what I'm talking about? Aaaaaaaaaaaaaanyway, my whole point is I have to share this because it TOTALLY made my day. And if you haven't seen that blog before, check out the other posts - same sort of thing, lots more hits than misses.

All right, that's all. Peace out, yo! :-P

P. ost S. cript
This is why you wear the wrist strap kids . . . because if you don't you'll become a joke on youtube.